Useful organic liquids, such as various forms of petroleum, oil, fuel, organic solvents, and other hydrocarbons, occasionally contain one or more constituents of interest. Sometimes these constituents are contaminants and sometimes they are commercially valuable chemicals. If the constituent is either a contaminant or a commercially valuable chemical, it would be preferable to process it in such a manner as to be able to remove it from the useful organic liquid. These constituents are sometimes referred to as substrates, in that they are substances that can be acted upon by other substances (such as various biocatalysts). These constituents may also be in the form of various organic liquids or be contained in various organic liquids. For example, these constituents may be heteroatom compounds (such as organically bound sulfur or nitrogen), heavy metals (such as those contained in substituted porphyrins), or other organic constituents of interest.
The major fraction of the organic liquid is sometimes referred to as the "bulk" organic phase, since most of its volume is comprised of this organic liquid, whereas usually a small volume is comprised of the constituent of interest. Some of these constituents are classified as hazardous wastes by various environmental regulatory agencies. Disposal of these "contaminated" organic liquids is very wasteful, difficult, and expensive. Because these organic liquids would be useful if not for the constituents they contain, it is preferable to identify and develop an acceptable approach which would remove these constituents. If the constituents were solids, removal could be accomplished relatively simply through a series of filtration or sedimentation steps. On the other hand, constituents which are organic compounds or contained in organic compounds are, to a certain extent, miscible in the bulk organic liquids. Miscibility is generally defined as the tendency or capacity of two or more liquids to form a uniform blend, that is, to dissolve in each other. The degrees of miscibility are generally referred to as total miscibility, partial miscibility, and immiscibility. Difficulties are encountered when attempting to separate the two or more different types of organic liquids when they possess partial or total miscibility.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for safely, quickly, and economically bioconverting or removing the constituents in the bulk organic liquid whereby the bulk organic liquid is available for immediate use and the useful constituents are available for further processing.